Oceans become roads
Open the map in 1600, turn on Trade Routes and zoom out to the whole world. Find routes that cross the Atlantic and one that crosses the Pacific. Which continents are now connected?
Open this view on the mapColumbian Exchange · 1492-1700
The Columbian Exchange: a world of new foods
After 1492, plants, animals and people crossed the oceans in both directions. Potatoes and maize fed Europe, Africa and Asia; horses and cattle changed the Americas. Students trace the exchange on the trade routes and in the food on their own plates.
- Length
- 45 minutes
- Ages
- 10–13
- On the map
- 3 steps, AD 1600
- Live lesson
- 7 rounds, 3 on the map
- Worksheet
- Two A4 pages, with Classroom
- You need
- A projector; phones for live
Live lesson · new in Classroom
Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.
Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.
€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.
- 7 rounds
- 3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
- About 15 minutes
- Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
- A report
- Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
Introduction
5 minRead aloud
After 1492, plants, animals and people crossed the oceans in both directions. Potatoes and maize fed Europe, Africa and Asia; horses and cattle changed the Americas. Students trace the exchange on the trade routes and in the food on their own plates.
By the end of the lesson, students can
- Name at least four crops or animals that crossed the Atlantic in each direction after 1492.
- Follow the trade routes that linked the Americas with Europe, Africa and Asia.
- Explain one way the Columbian Exchange changed life on each continent.
Explore the map
12 minProject the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.
Homeland of the potato
Zoom in on Lake Titicaca in the Andes. Potatoes were first grown in this region thousands of years ago. Why would a crop that grows in cold, high places be valuable in northern Europe?
Open this view on the mapAcross the Pacific
Find the Manila Galleon route from Acapulco to Manila. In this period maize, sweet potatoes and chili peppers reached Asia, by this and other routes. Which Asian dishes use chili today?
Open this view on the mapClass discussion
14 minPick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.
- Before 1492 there were no tomatoes in Italy, no potatoes in Ireland and no chili peppers in India. How would those kitchens be different without the exchange?
- Horses spread across the Great Plains in the 1600s and 1700s. How did horses change life for peoples such as the Comanche and the Lakota?
- Sugarcane came to the Americas from the other direction. Why did sugar lead to plantations worked by enslaved Africans?
- Diseases were also part of the exchange. Why did they travel mostly from Europe and Africa to the Americas, and not the other way?
- The historian Alfred Crosby named the Columbian Exchange in 1972. Why is it useful to give a big change a name?
Game round
9 minPlay one round of Rule History as Frederick the Great. In 1756 he ordered Prussian farmers to grow potatoes, a crop first grown in the Andes. Afterwards, discuss: why would a king care about a new food, and which other plants from the Americas changed the world?
Open Rule HistoryWorksheet
5 minThis worksheet comes with Classroom
€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.